Save Roj TV – independent voice of the Kurds

Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and CAMPACC Statement

1 August 2013The Danish District Supreme Court took a shock decision on 3rd July to shut down and impose a hefty fine on Kurdish Roj TV and its parent company Mesopotamia Broadcasting accusing them of being guilty of inciting terrorism. The outcome of this appeal case sentenced the broadcasters to pay a fine of 5.2 million Danish kroner each and decided to revoke their broadcasting licenses. Along with Roj TV, Mesopotamia Broadcasting’s MMV and Nuce TV also had their licenses revoked.

The decision has been condemned by many leading Kurdish organisations who regard the move as ‘’politically motivated’’ and evidence of close cooperation between the authorities in Denmark and Turkey, which has long pressured to have the Kurdish news channels closed down.

There is plenty of evidence to support the contention that the decision has political motives. The Turkish ambassador to Denmark, for example, explicitly called on the Danish MFA Undersecretary to take a political decision and shut down Roj TV.[1] Wikileaks cables have also revealed that closure of the broadcaster was used as a bargaining tool to convince Turkey to support former Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s bid to become NATO Secretary General.[2] Throughout this period it is clear that Turkey had been pressuring Denmark to close the station.

Roj TV immediately lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court and requested that the revoking of the broadcast licence by delayed until the full appeal process is complete.

Following the verdict, Roj TV’s management board stated that they were willing to take the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if need be. “Kurds have been denied free speech in many countries and now also in Denmark,” the board said in a press release. “It is unavoidable that Kurds will see the verdict as demonstrating that [the Danish state] doesn’t want to discuss the actual facts of the situation and that political and other motives were instead at play.”

The decision comes a delicate time when a peace process between Turkey and the Kurds is continuing and a ceasefire remains in place. Hopes remain high for a positive outcome of the talks that have been opened up between Turkish government representatives and Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The issues at stake are high for not only is there a clear principle of freedom of speech involved, the voice of the Kurds should not be stifled at this crucial moment when all sides need to be heard if dialogue is going to have a chance of success. For any lasting peace to be achieved the issues will need to be fully debated by the Kurdish side and the people need to be informed about developments in order to be able to accept any agreements that may emerge. Roj TV is a popular channel among Kurds, whom it provides a reliable source of information and it has been playing a valuable role in informing the audience about key political developments.

The argument that the channel is simply a mouthpiece for Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) propaganda is erroneous and has been refuted by the broadcasters themselves and leading Kurdish organisations who have commented on the ruling such as the KCK and the BDP.

Nevertheless, the Court decision rests on its definition of the PKK as a ‘’terrorist organisation’’ which itself can be open to challenge on several counts. The fact that the PKK is listed by the US, the EU and Turkey is not of itself sufficient to justify the Danish Court’s decision which should not rely on political judgements when deliberating on a legal matter. It is only fair therefore to ask what valid evidence the Court had used which enabled it to come to its decision. However, even if the close links with the PKK were true, there is in any case a very strong argument for removing the PKK from the terrorism list altogether in view of its commitment to the peace process and the constructive role that its leadership has been playing for several years. The campaign to delist the PKK has actually received a fair amount of support from legal experts and figures who take a close interest in Turkish-Kurdish relations.[3]

Through our familiarity with the programmes put out by Roj TV we are convinced that it is a responsible broadcaster and certainly does not make transmit material that advocates violence. In fact, Roj TV is an extremely important independent television service for millions of Kurdish people and should be allowed to continue broadcasting. The Kurds, who have for too long been denied their basic rights such as the right to freedom of speech by Turkey and other countries in the Middle East, should not now be denied those same rights by a European democracy such as Denmark.